


Bittersweet

by winterfirehair



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: AO3 FB Challenge, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Awkward Flirting, Barista Beverly Marsh, Barista Richie Tozier, Boys Kissing, Canon Jewish Character, College Student Bill Denbrough, College Student Eddie Kaspbrak, College Student Stanley Uris, Gentle Kissing, JULY ROULETTE CHALLENGE, LGBTQ Jewish Character(s), M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 17:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15442293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterfirehair/pseuds/winterfirehair
Summary: Richie Tozier is a dorky barista and Stan Uris a college student who hates coffee and is officially done with Tozier's constant flirting. || AO3 FB Challenge - July Roulette





	Bittersweet

**Author's Note:**

> My prompt:  
> Current Fandom / Non-Shipped Pairing / Coffeeshop AU
> 
> Joke's btw on me because this is now one of my OTPs.

If there was something besides disorder and loud people that Stanley Uris absolutely couldn't stand, it was coffee.

There was nothing about it he could bring himself to like. He didn't like it hot and it was even worse when it was cold. No amount of sugar or milk could change the bitter taste it left on his tongue, a taste that would make him feel sick for the rest of the day.

In short: Stanley absolutely despised coffee.

On the other hand, Bill Denbrough and Eddie Kaspbrak, his two best friends and fellow college students, loved coffee. Bill would literally drink anything that had the slightest bit of that stupid bean water in it and Eddie? As long as he could put some sugar in it, he was basically the same.

Stanley couldn't care less if his friends liked drinking coffee or not. As long as they would stay away from him with that stuff, he'd let them drink everything. But Bill and Eddie both decided with the start of their first college year that they had to be the most typical college students and that meant visiting coffee shops. Because a noisy, big room full of people would apparently be the best place to learn and stuff.

Needless to say Stanley hated the idea.

And still, he had agreed to check out a small but popular café called 'The Little Spoon' with them. That name was either completely ridiculous or genius, he wasn't quite sure yet.

 

\----------------------

 

As soon as the group entered the small café, warmth and the smell of coffee and baked goods engulfed them. Stan wrinkled his nose in disgust, but he didn't complain. After all, he had agreed to accompany Bill and Eddie. He wouldn't be an ass now and back out of it just because the smell wasn't his favorite in here.

They sat down on a table next to one of the big windows. The café was cozy, Stan had to admit that. Of course it was just as noisy as he had figured it would be, but it wasn't too bad - at least for now.

While Bill and Eddie flipped through the pages of the menu - they had already heard that there were many drinks to be tried here - Stanley looked around. Most of the customers seemed to be their age, give or take two or three years. Some of them were studying or reading, most were chatting with their friends. A man in a corner was reading a news paper, while a dark haired girl in another was drawing in a large sketch book.

He disliked coffee and coffee shops, but he had to admit that it was a pretty good place to observe people. Observation had always played a huge part in his life, even though he preferred observing animals over humans. Already as a small child he'd always been outside to catalogue every animal he could find. In just a few years he had developed a special interest in all kinds of birds and now, at age 18, he was just starting his first year at college with Ornithology - the science of birds - as his major.

It had been a nice surprise that all of them were accepted at the same college, which was the University Of Southern Maine in Portland. While Stan would be studying Ornithology, Bill had chosen English Language And Literature as his major and Eddie decided to go for Accounting.

A waiter appeared at their table, snapping Stanley out of his thoughts.

"Hey guys, welcome to 'The Little Spoon', do you already know what you - oh my."

The guy stopped abruptly when his eyes fell on Stanley. He blinked, once, twice, then the smile on his lips got even wider.

"Well hello there. What's a pretty place like you doing in a boy like this?"

Stan raised an eyebrow. Was this guy seriously hitting on him? With such a line?

He took a moment to take in the image in front of him. Chocolate brown hair that framed a lightly freckled face in soft locks. A cute nose. Soft brown eyes hidden behind nerdy glasses. A 'The Little Spoon' shirt with a name tag saying 'R. Tozier'. Some leather bracelets around both his wrists. Rather thight black jeans with some small cuts, showing white skin underneath. Dark red converse.

Looking back up again, Stan smiled.

"Ignoring the hipster hitting on him."

There was a short moment of silence. Then, Eddie snorted, clasping his hand in front of his mouth to not just burst into laughter. Even Bill couldn't help but smile a bit. After all, that guy had basically asked for this when spitting out such a cheap line.

Stanley could see how the guy's cheeks turned a bit darker than before, embarassement flickering through his brown eyes. He would've almost started feeling bad, if it wasn't for that lingering smile and embarassment quickly changing into some kind of determination. His cheeky respone had clearly triggered something in that guy.

As if nothing happened, their waiter turned towards Bill and Eddie.

"Alright, what can I get you?"

Eddie, who still had a rather hard time to not laugh, looked down at the menu again.

"Uhm... I'll take that 'Milk N' Honey' thing here, I guess that's supposed to be a café miel?"

"Exactly, honey bee."

Ignoring the nickname, Eddie nodded and let Bill take the menu.

"And I'll have a 'Black Velvet' please."

Their waiter nodded, writing both drinks down on the small note pad he carried with him.

"And what about your friend who ignores me?"

Stanley raised an eyebrow as both Bill and Eddie turned towards him. So this guy wanted to play a game? A game he could have.

"I'll take whatever he thinks I would like."

Bill let out a sigh. He could already sense where this was going and he didn't like it. Eddie, on the other hand, grinned.

"He'll take whatever you think he would like. Make a good choice Romeo."

Their waiter shuffled away, grinning, and Bill sighed again.

"That's pretty mean Stan. You hate coffee, how is he supposed to serve you somthing you like?"

"Bill?"

Eddie pointed on him.

"You."

Then he pointed on something above his friend's head.

"The point."

"Very funny Eds."

 

\----------------------

 

Richie definietly had a hard time to choose a drink that the pretty boy who had so openly burned him would like.

They had a huge variety of drinks to choose from, but that wasn't helpful at all. He could tell that this guy was different, that he was special. And a special boy needed a special drink.

"Richie, are you getting this done or should I take over so you can daydream?"

Snapping his head up, Richie looked at his colleague. Beverly was looking at him, an eyebrow raised, an empty coffee mug in her hand.

"We have customers and you are blocking the caffee machine you know.", she continued, irritated. Usually Beverly was fun to work with, but she took this job very seriously and she didn't like it when Richie somehow messed things up like he was doing right now.

"Right. Sorry, I was only thinking..."

He stepped back and let her use the coffee machine. He wondered what type that pretty boy was when it came to coffee. Would he like a bitter taste or would he prefer it sweet?

As if she had read his thoughts, Beverly sighed. "He's clearly not a coffee fan."

"What?"

Richie stared at her as she prepared the drink, dumbfounded.

"That guy you talked to. I overheard it, you have to think of something to serve him, right? Well, don't got for coffee. He doesn't like it."

"... This is a café Bev. Why would he go to a café if he didn't like coffee?"

"Because of his friends, dumbass."

She rolled her eyes.

"Just trust me, judging by the face he made when they entered, he doesn't like the smell of coffee and therefore you can assume that he's not too fond of drinking it."

That actually made sense, Richie had to admit that. Also, Bev was pretty gifted when it came to being a judge of character, so he trusted her opinion on the boy.

"What are you suggesting then?", he asked, trying to not let his desparation show. He failed miserably, but Beverly didn't mention it. Instead, she glanced over to the table where the group was sitting.

"I don't think he's that much into that extremely sweet stuff either. I'd suggest something with chocolate or milk, maybe cinnamon but nothing more. No sirup or stuff, you know?"

He nodded, and she shuffled away to serve the drink she had made to one of their customers.

Richie couldn't help it, he felt irritated. How could someone not like coffee? Of course, coffee was pretty bitter and that wasn't everyone's taste, but you could put so much stuff into it to make it taste better.

Biting down on his lower lip, he turned to make the drinks for the boy's friends, while a plan started to take form in his mind. He would not only make the boy talk to him by serving him the most amazing drink in his entire life, he would also make him overthink his opinion on coffee in the process.

 

\----------------------

 

Their waiter returned with three drinks which he served the boys, a smile on his lips.

"A coffee as black as your soul for you, my dear. Honey bee, here's your café miel."

He then turned to Stan, who raised an eyebrow. Gently, Richie put down a mug in front of him.

"A special drink that's not on the menu. I hope you'll like it."

Before any of them could say a word, the boy had walked over to a new table to serve some new customers.

All three of them leaned over Stanley's drink. He sniffed at it. There was a faint trace of coffee, but he couldn't tell if it was in the air around them or if it was his drink.

"Well, it luh-looks good enough...", Bill mumbled, eyeing the mug. Eddie nodded approvingly.

Stan, curious himself, took a small sip.

Different tastes seemed to explode on his tongue. There was a creamy sweetness, a mixture of milk and chocolate, that seemed to coat his tongue and threatened to make him smile uncontrollably. It was followed by a rather spicy taste, burning into his taste buds for only a second so it wouldn't become unbearable. And underneath that he could taste the typical bitterness of coffee that he despised so much, but it mixed nicely with the other flavours. This was definietly coffee, but he liked it.

Both Bill and Eddie stared at their friend, who, after that first hesitant sip, took another one, and another.

"Tuh-Tastes good?"

"Well... I don't know exactly what that asshole put into this, but yeah... it tastes good. Great actually. Want to try?"

Stan licked his lips as he offered his mug to his friends, who both took a small sip. Bill seemed sceptical - that stuff was definietly too sweet for his taste - but Eddie was amazed.

"I really need to order that for myself next time. It tastes great.", he nodded, handing the mug back to Stan, who took another, bigger sip from it.

"Bu-but Stan?"

"Hm?"

"You know... t-there's coffee in this, ruh-right?"

The blond nodded, thoughtful.

"Yeah. I can taste it. But it's not... bad. Not really."

 

\----------------------

 

A week had come and gone since that afternoon and Stanley was growing quite addicted to the nameless drink their flirty waiter mixed for him. They had went to the café every day and he could see that the Tozier boy was itching to speak with him, but it was somehow fun to continue giving him the cold shoulder. He still wasn't over the dumb line Tozier had used to hit on him.

This time he entered the café alone. Both Bill and Eddie had to work on projects for their different majors and he didn't want to pull them out of their working flow just because he needed to taste that sweet and spicy bitterness on his tongue again. He didn't mind going alone, after all this way he could study his bird book in peace for a while.

He had just sat down when a familiar figure approached him, smiling.

"The usual, sweetheart?"

Stanley only nodded, trying hard to not roll his eyes at the nickname. Would this guy ever stop hitting on him? It wasn't like Stan didn't like it at all, but Tozier seemed to flirt with every single customer and the last thing he needed was some asshole who tried to get in everyone's pants.

"Coming right away..."

Tozier didn't seem to be bothered by Stan's cold behaviour. The smile on his lips was just as bright as always and Stanley couldn't help but curse that boy for his beauty. If Tozier wasn't so good-looking, ignoring him would've been easier.

A few minutes later Tozier came back with a steaming mug of that special drink, which he sat down in front of Stanley. The Jewish boy's cheeks heatened when he saw that Tozier had - again - decorated the milk foam on top of the drink with a small heart made of cinnamon.

"Thank you.", he nodded and turned his attention back to his book, expecting Tozier to leave again.

Except he didn't.

Furrowing his brows, Stan looked up at the boy who seemed somehow nervous.

"Yeah?"

"Well uhm...", Tozier began, but his voice seemed really small all of a sudden, so he cleared his throat and tried again.

"I've got lunch break now and I wanted to ask if you would mind me sitting down with you for a while? I can get us some cake if you'd like. For free."

Stan blinked a few times. Now that was surprising. He wouldn't have thought that Tozier would eventually try more than just hitting on him with stupid pick up lines.

"What if I told you no?"

He watched the reaction of the teen in front of him. For a brief second, he seemed disappointed, but then he shrugged.

"I'd leave you alone I guess. Wouldn't want to overwhelm you with my presence."

There it was again - that annoying arrogance mixed with that infuriating smirk. Stan rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Well it's a free country so I guess you can sit with me."

Tozier beamed next to him.

"Nice! What kind of cake would you like? If I had to guess I'd say you're a Chocolate Cream type of person."

Stan huffed, but smiled.

"That sounds good."

 

\----------------------

 

Tozier came back and sat down in front of him a few moments later with two plates of a delicious looking chocolate cake.

"My name's Richie by the way."

The teen held out his hand.

"And what can I call you, gorgeous?"

Stan sighed and took Richie's hand to shake it.

"Well, none of these ridiculous pet names please. I'm Stan."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful person."

Richie winked at him and Stan rolled his eyes again, but he felt a warm sensation inside. After all, he didn't get compliments like that every day.

To overplay the fact that he didn't really know what to say - did you say thank you for a compliment like that? Wasn't that kinda arrogant? After all it sounded like you already knew that and that seemed pretty arrogant to Stan - he dug his fork into the cake and started eating.

Richie watched the teen, absolutely lovestruck. It was true what Stanley had observed already, he was flirting with about every customer, but Stanley was different. He wanted to get to know him.

"So... you like birds?", he asked, pointing on the book Stan had been reading. He grimaced on the inside. He usually was smoother than this when it came to small talk.

Stan didn't seem to mind. Instead, his face lightened up.

"Yeah. I've always liked observing animals, but birds are my favorite. That's why I'm taking Ornithology as my college major."

"That's really a major? I didn't know that. But sounds cool.", Richie nodded and meant it exactly how he said it. Then he grinned and added: "What about observing people? Is there a darker side to this beautiful angel?"

Stanley raised a brow.

"If you're asking if I'm a stalker I'd suggest you to look out of your bedroom window more often. You'll get the answer that way."

Just as the words had left his mouth he realized how wrong that sounded. His cheeks turned pink while Richie stared at him a few seconds and then started laughing with that stupid cheeky smile on his lips. Leaning forward, the brunet placed his chin on his hand.

"Did you just admit you're stalking me? Honey, if my bedroom and what happens in it is so interesting to you, you could've asked and I would've shown you."

"Yeah, sure.", Stan scoffed, still somehow embarassed. Richie still leaning over the table and therefore being pretty close wasn't helping.

"No joke.", Richie smiled and finally leaned back again to start his own cake now. That apparently wouldn't stop him from talking though.

"Where are your friends? Did they ditch you?"

"Like your last girlfriend? Nah. They're just busy with college stuff.", Stan casually replied before taking a sip from his drink.

Gasping, Richie touched his chest right above his heart.

"Did you hear my heart break again, Stan the Man?"

Stanley groaned. "Oh my god you just invented the worst nickname ever. You deserve that heartbreak."

They were quiet for a moment. Then, both of them started laughing so loudly that some other customers looked up from their own business in irritation.

 

\---------------------- 

 

It took Stanley and Richie less than two weeks to become pretty close friends. Bill, Beverly and Eddie could only watch and wonder how exactly those two got along without bashing their heads in at times, especially because Richie's sense of humour was pretty much over the top. But somehow, he and Stanley managed to make their friendship work even with lots of sarcastic banter. Maybe it was exactly because they could mess with each other like that.

Richie still liked to flirt with Stanley, loving how he could still sometimes throw him off guard. Stan on the other hand was only getting better at countering Richie's flirts - or sometimes returning them.

Soon it got almost painful to watch those dorks act like they were just fooling around with the whole flirting thing. It was clearly visible that they had fallen head over heels for each other just as fast as they had become friends.

Eddie was the one who finally brought the topic up one afternoon at their college dorm.

"Stan, did you ever get checked to see if you need glasses?"

Stan - who spent a lot of time texting Richie these days when they didn't go to the café - looked up from his phone and furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Uhm... no? Why?"

"Because you're fucking blind."

Searching for help, Stan looked at Bill, who just shrugged and smiled apologetically.

"He's kinda ruh-right."

"Can someone actually tell me what the hell is going on?"

Stan was looking at them both like a deer in the headlights now, his face full of confusion. His phone vibrated in his hands with what was probably a new message from Richie, but he didn't look at it.

"Your stupid crush on Richie is going on.", Eddie finally said with a smile on his lips that only got wider when Stan suddenly went ash pale and spluttered.

"W-What? What crush? What the hell Eds?", he coughed. Bill sat down next to him to gently slap his back so he could breathe again while Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on Stan, we all know you have a thing for him. It's really getting ridiculous. When are you going to finally ask him out?"

Stan took a deep breath and tried to calm down. When he was sure he could trust his voice again, he huffed.

"You guys are assholes, you know that right?"

"Duh-Doesn't change the fact that you guh-guys really should talk. Ruh-Richie has the buh-biggest crush on you."

"No he doesn't. Just because he flirts with me he's not automatically in love with me, alright? We're friends!"

Stan stood, his pale cheeks decorated with red splotches of embarassment. His upset expression was enough to make both Eddie and Bill feel bad. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he just stormed outside.

Eddie shared a look with Bill, then he ran after their friend.

 

\----------------------

 

He found Stan on one of the benches right in front of their shared dorm. Sitting down next to him, he stayed quiet for a moment, then he gently touched Stan's leg.

"I'm sorry Stan. I didn't mean to upset you."

After a few seconds, Stan sighed and put his hand on Eddie's.

"I know Eds."

They stayed like that for a while without talking at all, just taking in the nice weather and the sound of birds around them.

Then, Stan turned to the side to look at his smaller friend.

"I don't want to be another one of Richie's flings. That's why I didn't approach him about it."

To his surprise, Eddie started laughing.

"What's so funny about it?", he asked in confusion, taking his hand from Eddie's.

"You're such an idiot Stan. Richie may be flirting with basically everyone who's not on a tree by the count of three, but all those stories he tells are pretty much fantasies.", Eddie shook his head, grinning.

"As far as I know he's a virgin with no interest in any stuff like that as long as he's not in a serious relationship with someone.", he finished explaining.

Stan stared at him like Eddie had just grown a second head.

"How would you know that?", he finally managed to get out.

Eddie shrugged. "Beverly told Bill and me. She also told us how Richie basically had this crush on you since you turned him down the first time we met him. He's always flirting for fun but it turned serious with you."

It all suddenly made sense. Those little hearts on his coffee. The seemingly accidental touches that sometimes lasted too long to really be accidental. The way Richie looked at him when he thought Stan wasn't watching. The way Richie's flirting sometimes got out of hand and turned awkward, making both of them nervous.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Stan took his phone out of his pocket. Ignoring Richie's previous message, he quickly typed some words and pressed the send-button before he could overthink his actions.

Turning to Eddie again he let out his breath in a nervous sigh.

"I'm going to confess to someone in twenty minutes. How the hell do I do that?"

 

\---------------------- 

 

Stan couldn't help the feeling that all of this would turn out to be a disaster.

"The Little Spoon" was just around the corner, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to enter the café yet. Instead, for the past five minutes, he had been pacing back and forth outside, earning some curious looks from the people passing by. He couldn't care less.

There was nothing to be afraid of. He could be sure that Richie wouldn't turn him down and that he wouldn't just be a simple fling for him if Eddie and Bill had told the truth. And he trusted his friends. Yet here he was, his heart racing in his chest, his palm sweaty and with a feeling in his guts like he was about to faint. And he wasn't even facing Richie yet.

Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath through his nose to help himself calm down, then he walked around the corner and entered the café.

After looking around he came to the conclusion that Richie wasn't here yet. His stomach seemed to not be able to decide if that was good or bad, which resulted in a painful cramp. Exhaling a low hiss, he walked over to the counter, from where Beverly was looking over at him curiously.

"Hey Stan. Richie isn't here if you wanted to see him.", she said as soon as he was in earshot.

"I know", he nodded, "but I texted him to meet me here. He's gonna be here soon."

Beverly eyed him for a moment, then began to smile.

"So you guys are finally going to talk?"

Stan felt his cheeks getting hot. Not trusting his voice, he only nodded.

She grinned at him.

"Oh Richie is so going to flip out. He's been going on my nerves about you all the time. No offense."

"None taken.", he smiled gently. Looking around again he pointed at the terrace door with his thumb. "I guess I'll be waiting for him outside... privacy you know?"

Beverly nodded. "I'll tell him."

 

\---------------------- 

 

He didn't have to wait long for Richie to show up.

When he turned around to look at the other teen, he couldn't help but smile. Richie was a mess, he looked like he had just jumped out of the shower and into his clothes without drying himself off. His hair was still wet, the brown curls sticking onto his face. He looked beautiful.

"Hey.", he said. Richie frowned.

"You send me a message that makes me think you got diagnosed with some deadly disease and want to tell me you only have some days left and you say hey?"

Stan only stared at the other teen in confusion, then backed away when Richie stormed over to lightly hit him in the chest.

"Woah Rich, that wasn't exactly what I meant..."

"Well, what did you mean then by 'Richie, you have to come to the café, there's something important we have to talk about.'?"

He could see that Richie was upset. For a moment he thought about making a joke, but it didn't feel right. Instead, he gently took Richie's hand in his. It caused the other teen to stare at him with wide eyes. It was usually Richie who initiated the little touches between them.

"Richie, something important doesn't mean I'm going to die, alright?"

"Okay...", Richie agreed, somehow embarassed, "but what is it then?"

Stanley hesitated for a moment, the feeling in his stomach getting worse. Richie looked at him expectantly.

"I have a crush on you.", Stan then blurted out, before he could chicken out.

He could basically see how Richie's brain worked to process that information. The first emotion his face showed was surprise, then shock. His chocolate eyes wide open he stared at the blond in front of him who was still holding his hand. Then, his cheeks slowly began to redden as blood rushed to his face.

Stan on the other hand had gotten bright pink cheeks basically the second the last word had left his mouth.

For a moment, both of them didn't say a word. The silence was awkward, but Stan didn't know what he should say right now after confessing and Richie was simply rendered speechless.

Then, Richie squeezed Stan's hand softly and reached up with the other to gently cup the teen's face.

"Isn't being gay some kind of sin for Jewish people?", he murmured, causing Stan to laugh.

"I don't really know, to be honest. And I don't care."

"Can I kiss you then?"

Instead of answering, Stan leaned forward to softly press his lips onto Richie's.

It was a sweet kiss that made both of them feel the butterflies in their stomaches go crazy. Stan used his free hand to pull Richie closer and the slightly smaller boy didn't have to be asked twice to lean against him.

When they parted, Richie blinked once, twice. Then a single word left his lips.

"Wow."

Stan stared at him for a moment, then he started laughing. "Way to ruin the mood, asshole."

"Oh you love me Staniel."

"Continue with the nicknames and I may overthink that again."


End file.
